Shy Little Firefly
by BettyBoopFan123
Summary: Jack and Karen have been best friends ever since his visit to Flowerbud Village as a little boy. During his time there he took notice of a strange little brunette girl with glasses. Never getting to meet her, his memory of hers becomes a dream. But when Jack comes back to inherit the farm, he sees her again, and can't believe that he's finally found his dream girl.
1. Chapter 1

"Come on Jack! Let's go play with those kitties!" Karen exclaimed to Jack.

Jack was visiting his Grandpa's farm for the first time this summer. He had been spending most of his time with his Grandpa: helping him with farm chores, going fishing in the mountains, and listening to Grandpa's amazing stories about his adventurous life. Other times Grandpa would take Jack up to the vineyard to visit with his friends, Gotz and Sasha. It was then that Jack met Karen, a feisty, outspoken little girl with a passion for dancing. Jack and Karen quickly became best friends. They had a summer any kid would dream of. Sometimes Sasha would take the two swimming at the beach and other times they'd chase each other around the grapevines at the vineyard. A few times, Grandpa would need some chicken feed, and would take them to Green Ranch so they could play with Ann and Gray.

One day, Grandpa had some business with the Mayor and let Jack and Karen tag along. They quickly grew bored of what the Mayor and Grandpa were talking about, and decided to wait outside. It was then that Jack noticed a little girl he hadn't seen before. He was sure he met all of the kids in the village, so who was this? She was a shy little thing with long brunette hair tied up into a braid, eyes with a far-off look set behind a pair of glasses, and a book curled underneath her arm.

"Who's that?" Jack asked Karen.

"Oh that's Maria. Her daddy's the Mayor. She's really strange." Karen told Jack.

"Strange? How come?" Jack asked her.

"She's so quiet, all she does is read and draw. Plus she likes bugs. Yuck!" Karen exclaimed.

"A girl that likes bugs? That's so cool!" Jack said, beginning to really like this girl.

Karen rolled her eyes. "Well I'm gonna go play with those kitties, while you can go play with _her_. Besides, she's not even gonna talk to you, she'll be too scared to," Karen said, beginning to get jealous.

"Okay," Jack said completely entranced by this new little girl.

Karen felt like she was going to cry, she held back her tears as best as she could, and stomped away from him towards the tabby cats that were in the Midwife's yard. The tabby cats, feeling her anger, ran away from her, which only made Karen even more upset.

At this point, Grandpa came out of the Mayor's house and saw Jack about to go into the library and Karen crying hysterically in the Midwife's lawn. The Midwife and her teenage son, Zack, had also gotten out of their house to see what all the commotion was.

Grandpa ran towards Karen to see what was wrong. Jack noticed this and decided it best he go comfort Karen. So away from the library he turned and ran towards his sad best friend.

"What's going on out here?" Zack asked.

"JACK DOESN'T WANNA PLAY WITH ME ANYMORE!" Karen shouted out.

"I do too! I just wanted to go say hi to Maria," Jack said with concern in his eyes.

"Already a lady killer at such a young age, eh?" the Midwife said to Jack.

Jack widened his eyes at her. "I don't kill ladies!" Jack shouted, utterly shocked at this lady's accusation.

"She didn't mean it like that Jack. You'll understand when you're older," Grandpa said to him.

"Now how about we head back to the farm and I'll whoop you guys up some milk and cookies! Doesn't that sound good, Karen?"

Karen sniffed. "I guess so."

"But Grandpa let me say hello to Maria first!" Jack exclaimed.

"We won't have time to Jack. It's going to get dark soon, and remember we have to walk Karen back to the vineyard before it gets dark. You can say hello to Maria another day." Grandpa said.

Jack knew that that other day would probably not come soon. For summer was almost over, it was almost time for him to go back home. Even with that thought in his head, he still had fun eating Grandpa's yummy cookies and drinking milk that had come from Jack's favorite cow, Bessie. They walked Karen home and on their way back to their house, nighttime engulfed the land. When they got back, Grandpa took out a lawn chair, and sat down in it with a glass of iced tea. He watched while Jack ran around the fields, playing with his dog Sport. After a little bit, Jack got tired and laid down on the grass. Sport laid next to him. Jack closed his eyes only for a little bit and when he opened them he saw something so beautiful, he had to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things. A ball of light was flying right in front of his face. He carefully reached out his hand to touch it, and it quickly flew away towards the tomato patch. Jack walked towards it ever so slowly, but the creature noticed and flew away towards the mountains. Jack stood and watched it fly, until he could no longer see the bulb of light anymore. He wished he could see it again. It had reminded him of Maria, so small, shy, and beautiful. A sparkle of light to add to the magic that was Flowerbud Village.

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><p><strong>AN: I promise you all that Karen will _not_ be a brat in this story. Fiesty, she will be, because hey she's Karen, but not bratty. I know that she may have come across as a brat in this chapter, but she was just really upset that her best friend would forget all about her. So if you liked it or didn't, give me a review! Tell me what you liked or what I could improve on. Thanks ahead of time!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey guys! I have finally come around to update this story as I'd really love to continue it! Thank you to Accidentally The Whole Fanfic for your suggestions. You didn't sound too nitpicky, any advice is greatly appreciated! And thank you to Nightmare Shadow and arcticzydrate. Hope you enjoy this next chapter!**

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><p>The sea seemed to go on and on, just like Jack thought his depression would. He quickly shook that thought away and laughed a bit at how cliche his thought was. Laughter always helped him in times like this. The Captain looked at Jack like he was crazy, for just a couple of minutes ago Jack was sobbing at the other end of the boat. He really did wonder if this depression would go away. It wasn't going away while he was in the city studying. Night after night, he tried ever so hard to study but he simply wasn't retaining the information. Day after day, he would flunk tests, become unresponsive to friends and professors, and walk around like he was in some type of daze. He picked at his food and wasn't able to sleep much at night. It's a shame because it was his last semester in college. He was going to graduate with a degree in business, just like his father wanted him to. He never really wanted to study business so maybe it's a good thing he's not finishing his degree right now. There's always a bright side when something bad happens, right? Maybe Grandpa's death was a sign that business wasn't right for Jack. Maybe, since it was Grandpa's dying wish, that Jack's fate rested in the countryside.<p>

The boat's horn cried out awaking Jack from his thoughts. Jack gathered up his two suitcases and made his way towards the side of the boat where he was to exit. The Captain anchored the boat onto the shore and walked over to Jack, his only passenger.

"You sure you didn't need a round-trip ticket? Most folks who's comes here, only come to visit relatives for a day or two then go straight back to the city."

"No I'm fine, thanks for the ride," said Jack.

"Alright, good luck, kid."

The Captain lifted the latch of the boat door and Jack made his exit out. The boat began to pull out as Jack took a good, long look at the beach. He remembered playing here with Karen when he was just a little kid. Karen had written to him, of course, was the first one to tell him the news of his Grandpa's death. Jack and Karen had kept in touch over the years. The two felt that they had grown up together, even though they never saw each other, the words on the paper were enough for them. Of course it was awhile before they wrote letters to each other, Jack and Karen first had to learn to properly read and write. And when Karen did, Sasha encouraged her daughter to write a letter to the darling boy that Karen had spent her fifth summer with. Karen had always remembered Jack and was so excited that she could finally talk to him again.

When Jack received the letter, he, of course, remembered little Karen, with her dirty blonde hair and the twinkle of fire in her eyes. He enthusiastically returned her letter and the chain didn't stop since. Karen wrote all about the antics she got into with Ann and her improving dancing skills. Jack told Karen all about the big city that he lived in: playing basketball with his friends, going to museums and shows, and going with his Dad to work in his law office. Karen fell in love with the big city, like her mother did once, and decided that she would move there one day.

Years passed and that day never came, the responsibilities that she had at the vineyard kept her stagnant, but she never gave up on her big city dream.

Jack began to make his way up the hill, two suitcases in either hand, when he heard a familiar female voice.

"Jack?"

The voice came from a rather good-looking girl who wore a purple vest and jeans tucked into brown work boots. Dirty blonde hair reached down to her waist and two green eyes that hid fire sat upon her face, it was Karen, and she now stood a couple of feet in front of him.

"Karen?"

Karen gave Jack a one-over. She smiled at the backwards blue cap that rested upon his head.

"Are you still wearing the same blue cap? Your head didn't grow any bigger?" Karen teased.

Jack laughed. "I got it resized."

A giggle escaped from Karen's mouth but then her face became blue. "I'm sorry about your Grandfather. He was a great man."

Tears began to well up in his eyes but he held them back as much as he could. "Thank you."

Karen hugged Jack and then he couldn't hold the tears in, he let them go, soaking up the backside of Karen's vest. Karen didn't mind, for she shed a couple of tears too. They stood like that for a couple of minutes until Jack realized the mess he made of her vest.

"Sorry, Karen, your vest…" Jack said breaking apart from Karen's grasp.

"It's okay, it's just a vest," Karen said smiling at Jack with her eyes still wet with tears. She wiped them away. "Ready to go to the farm?"

Jack nodded his head and to the farm they went.

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><p><strong>AN: Hope you guys enjoyed it! Again, tell me what you liked and what could be improved upon! Thanks! Oh and Happy New Year!**


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